More Than 1,000 Young People 'Play Dead' in Front of Tobacco Company Headquarters to Dramatize Deadly Daily Toll of Tobacco

9/30/2002

From: Ayanna Robinson, 202-973-4797

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Sept. 30 -- It wasn't your normal, quiet Sunday morning in downtown Louisville yesterday. More than 1,000 young people gathered together, and then at about 9 a.m., they all fell to the ground in unison and "played dead" to film a new television ad for truth(sm), the American Legacy Foundation's campaign to prevent teenage smoking.

"The young people who joined us for this event symbolized the 1,200 Americans killed each day from tobacco-related diseases," said American Legacy Foundation President and CEO Dr. Cheryl Healton. "We used as our set the doorstep of a major tobacco manufacturer to highlight to the tobacco industry how much death and misery its products cause every day."

The American Legacy Foundation had no intention to single out any one company, but instead the tobacco industry as a whole.

"We are making ads for teenagers, and teens want authenticity," Healton said. "To grab teens' attention and inform them about the true dangers of smoking and the addictive power of nicotine, you've got to be edgy and willing to get into the tobacco industry's face."

The young people involved in the filming were recruited from colleges and universities in Kentucky and Indiana. Each student wore a T-shirt with two numbers, such as "348/1200" or "957/1200." The first number indicated which individual of the 1,200 people who die each day from tobacco the student was representing.

The ad ends with a sign that reads, "Tobacco kills 1,200 people every day. Ever think about taking a day off?" The ad was filmed by the American Legacy Foundation's ad agency, Arnold Worldwide.

"This commercial is so dramatic and graphic that it will be remembered by every young person who sees it," Healton said. "Tobacco kills about 438,000 Americans each year, making it the nation's No. 1 killer, and we want every young person to know it."

Launched in February 2000, the truth(sm) campaign is the largest and most successful campaign to prevent teen smoking in U.S. history. It reaches young people aged 12-17. The great majority of smokers begin to smoke during that age period. If teenage smoking can be prevented, it would effectively shut off the pipeline of new customers the tobacco industry needs to survive.

The truth campaign has been credited with being one of the major reasons for recent sharp declines in youth smoking rates nationally. Research released by the American Legacy Foundation on Sept. 18 showed that in the two years since the launch of the campaign, there has been a 17.9 percent drop in smoking rates among high school students and a 5.4 percent drop in smoking rates among middle school students.

The truth campaign was associated with these dramatic declines. There was a 29 percent decline in smoking prevalence among high school students who had high exposure to the campaign; a 21 percent decline in smoking prevalence among those with medium exposure to the campaign; and a 12 percent decline in prevalence among those with low exposure to the campaign.

"The study proves that the truth campaign is the anti-smoking vaccine for kids we've been waiting for," Healton said. "Other factors help to reduce youth smoking, including raising the price of tobacco products and enforcing laws against the sale of tobacco products to minors. But the truth campaign is an essential part of our efforts to save young people from a lifetime of nicotine addiction and premature death."

------ The American Legacy Foundation(r) is a national, independent, public health foundation located in Washington, D.C. It was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. The American Legacy Foundation collaborates with organizations interested in decreasing tobacco consumption among all ages and populations nationwide and has established goals to reduce youth tobacco use, partner with states to decrease exposure to secondhand smoke, increase successful quit rates, and reduce disparities in access to prevention and cessation services and in exposure to secondhand smoke. For more information about the American Legacy Foundation, visit http://www.americanlegacy.org.